Safety

Wash. lawmakers propose school transportation funding change

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A bipartisan panel is evaluating ways to boost funding for education in the state, and proposals include paying for school bus services out of the transportation budget rather than the general fund, according to a story on heraldnet.com.

Money freed up by the shift could be used in other areas of education to help lawmakers comply with a Supreme Court order to increase basic education funding for students. The initial down payment for compliance is about $1 billion in the two-year budget that begins next July. The Joint Task Force on Education Funding is expected to issue recommendations for raising that amount by the end of the month, according to the story.

House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, who serves on the panel, told the news source that any money for bus service would have to come out of revenue generated from a transportation funding package that lawmakers may put before voters next year.

A preliminary report finds that Glenn Chappell had hypertension, diabetes, and seizures, and in the past five years had been involved in at least 12 crashes or incidents while driving a school bus or personal vehicle.